The month of May is “ME Awareness Month”, with May 12th being the particular day, and I have also seen the week starting May 11th designated as ME awareness week.

ME is classified by the World Health Organisation as a neurologically-based disease. It is of unknown cause, although there are several theories including viral and environmental agents. There is no known cure.

Unfortunately, in the UK the NHS seems to have ignored the WHO’s classification of ME as a specifically neurological illness, and has lumped ME together with any and all unexplained tiredness and fatigue, which can in fact be caused by a number of things, including Lyme Disease, Lupus, vitamin B12 deficiency and Pernicious Anaemia, Thyroid and adrenal problems, Sjögren’s, PCOS and other endocrine diseases, MS, fibromyalgia, depression and more, and has called the whole collection CFS, MEcfs or cfsME.

Within the umbrella of CFS there is obviously a vast spectrum of symptoms which range in severity, from those who are experiencing a mild loss of ‘get up and go’ to those who are in constant pain and utterly bedbound and unable to care for themselves, and since it is an umbrella term, treatments that may be helpful for mild types of CFS, such as GET – graded exercise and CBT – cognitive behavioural therapy, are wholly inappropriate and can be harmful for those who actually have ME.

CBT can be useful for people not coping well with any long term chronic illness but should not be touted as a main treatment for ME in the way that it is, based on the faulty assumption that CFS is inevitably linked to caused by psychological factors, and GET is harmful to PWME who have the key symptom of Post exertional malaise.

This situation has been exacerbated by the psychiatric establishment which has greedily claimed all ‘CFS’ patients as their own, baselessly alleging that all CFS must be related to mental and emotional factors.

Thus the tendency is to treat all CFS patients as though they are all suffering from an unexplained, probably psychologically-based, rather than neurologically-based illness, regardless of the severity, and further to fail to investigate thoroughly or adequately in order to rule out any other cause (such as those listed above).

There is no definitive test for ME yet (largely because genuine research has been so scarce), and so ME should never be diagnosed until every other possible cause has been eliminated.

The classification of ME together with any unexplained CFS is a nonsense which means that people who actually have curable and treatable diseases aren’t getting the help they could and should be able to expect, while those with ME are simply treated with disdain instead of receiving the palliative care they need.

This is a wholly unacceptable situation for everybody involved, which helps no-one, except those few outspoken psychiatrists who like to gain notoriety by making the psychological case and denying the reality of the suffering.

A friend has also pointed out that MS, asthma, duodenal ulcers and other illnesses were all considered psychiatric problems before biomedical caught up.

UKIP DONOR DEMETRI MARCHESSINI VOICES REPELLENT VIEWS ON RAPE, HOMOSEXUALITY, AND STILL THE PARTY TAKE HIS MONEY

Demetri Marchessini thinks it is fine for a husband to rape his wife, that homosexuality is a sin and that women should not be allowed to wear trousers, yet Ukip are still happily taking his cash, it has been revealed.

UKIP distanced themselves from the wealthy shipping and investment magnet in May last year after he published a book –Women in Trousers: A Rear View – airing his charming views. The party also didn’t appear overly keen to be connected to the Greek tycoon in January this year when he claimed “sodomy has always been a crime”. But Channel 4 News has reported that, despite Marchessini’s controversial outbursts, Ukip has since accepted at least one other donation from him.

In renewed embarrassment for the beleaguered party it was revealed Ukip received a further £5,000 from Marchessini four months ago – after the party’s apparent falling out with the businessman over his views on homosexuality and women’s rights.

In an interview Wednesday with Michael Crick, Marchessini created fresh trauma for the party by voicing more of his eyebrow-raising views.

He argued there is no such thing as marital rape, saying: “If you make love on Friday and make love Sunday, you can’t say Saturday is rape.”

He said women should be banned from wearing trousers (a favourite line of his) because they “discourage love-making”. Women, he said, should only be allowed to wear skirts, because “that is the only way the world is going to continue. Because if they don’t men are going to stop f***ing them.”

Additionally, apparently “there is no such thing as fidelity in homosexual relationships.”

Asked whether Ukip should be taking cash from a donor with such repellent views, leader Nigel Farage replied: “Possibly not.”

When I’ve not posted for a while It’s usually because I’ve been curled up with pain or wallowing in fatigue, BUT this time I’ve been on holiday in Norfolk with my partner. It is easy to drift apart and holidays are the perfect way to reconnect.

I am inspired to write about the lessons we can learn from geese! Draw your own conclusions.

Sharing a commonality: As each goose flaps its wings it creates “uplift”, an aerodynamic orientation that reduces air friction, for the birds that follow. By flying in a V-formation, the whole flock achieves a 70% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Notice what’s happening: Flying in a V-formation increases the visibility as every goose can see what’s happening in front of them.

Rely on each other: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the friction of flying alone. It then quickly adjusts its mistake and moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.

Empower each other: When the lead goose in the front gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and allows another goose to take the lead position.

Constant encouragement: The geese honk to recognize each other and encourage those up front to keep up.

Offering support: When a goose gets sick or wounded, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.

Staying committed: The geese migration routes never vary. They use the same route year after year. Even when the flock members change, the young learn the route from their parents. In the spring they will go back to the spot where they were born.

For me it is the action of “relinquishing self expectation” (thanks Sue) or the practice of doing nothing. It’s also taking (present tense as it’s a learning curve) a long time to accept.

Soooo, what’s wrong with reading a book during the day? Nothing right? you probably do it yourself.

Well actually I mean all day.every day, sometimes interspersed with TV, radio or sleep!

Great you say, bring it on.

However, I’ve been doing this since I was diagnosed with M.E. -4 years now – but not with any commitment to myself or the real Taoist principle , just because that’s what the illness does to me. Most of the time I do want to go out, do stuff and have a life!(Or rather my life back)

A virus for 3 weeks over the holidays, follow by a heavy cold at present, meant I not only couldn’t do anything but didn’t give myself a hard time for it.

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Good News, Sad News and a resolution

There is much to celebrate as we move into 2014: a new, stronger nest platform with improved design is in place, a second webcam is on the cards to provide a panoramic view of the site, and the birds are back despite the cranes and considerable construction activity on the adjacent Jessop East site.

It is sad to report that the young male that was taken into care back in the summer was found dead to the east of Sheffield earlier in the winter, apparently of natural causes. Mortality rates in young Peregrines are high, with somewhere between 50% and 70% of birds failing to make it through their first year. About half of those that die in their first year are thought to succumb to disease or parasitism, and it may well be that the young male suffered from this from an early age, perhaps accounting for his grounding in July, when no injuries were apparent.

Given the many challenges facing the species, we are determined to continue to support the recolonisation of the Sheffield area, although the move of birds into urban settings is a relatively recent phenomenon. The team that built the original platform that proved so successful over the last couple of years tweaked the design to make it even better and had it ready to be put in place by the end of November. Jim Lonsdale gave me a call to come and see it for myself.

Great work by Jim and the small works team in the Department of Estates! The main changes are in the quality of the materials, which are built to last (the previous platform was to test whether or not the site would prove attractive), and a notably deeper lip at the front edge to reduce the risk of young birds dropping out. It’s a very substantial piece of work that should last a decade or more.

To minimise disruption to the site, the old platform was replaced by the new one all on the same day – no mean feat given the weight involved and restricted access up the tower – and all was in place before Christmas. The webcam was retained and was soon showing images of the birds occasionally visiting the platform, although the stream was not ready for public view. There are some tweaks to be had with the camera to give a better view when the birds are on the front of the box, or even the perching pole. As things stand, the view can be tantalising…

On 22 January a flurry of activity over lunchtime saw first the female and then the male on the platform in quick succession, with both busily scraping the gravel. To watch something like this is a rare privilege: the technique is to huddle down and scrape the gravel back with the talons, creating a hollow under the body.

The female also spent some time picking individual pieces of gravel and placing them in just the right spot.

Both birds look to be the adults that have bred successfully for the last two years, the male’s ring just about visible on its left leg in the image below. The quality of this screen grab isn’t up to much, but if anyone manages to read the lettering on the ring we’ll be able to discover his origins.

Reports of three birds over Norwood allotments, including two birds talon grappling, sounds like territorial behaviour and a possible attempt to establish a new pair around Sheffield. Definitely one to watch!

The webcam will be viewable via http://efm.dept.shef.ac.uk/peregrine/ and a second, with a view across the ledge to the platform, should soon be up and running too. Much to look forward to in the weeks ahead. Fingers firmly crossed for another season of breeding success.

And the Resolution? To try to keep regular updates on the blog through the breeding season. Easier said than done, but isn’t that what resolutions are all about?! reblogged from Sheffield Peregrines.wordpress.com

The Committee directs that the following warning be attached to your registration:

‘In August 2012 you undertook an assessment of a man who reported a
history of depression and anxiety as a result of bullying and discrimination by
a previous employer in respect of his sexuality. He went on to tell you that he
felt at that time that he no longer wanted to be a gay man. After the
assessment you told him about a television programme about a previously
gay man who had wanted to change who now had nine children. You wrote
down the name of this person, gave it to him and suggested that he could
look up this information on the internet. You explained that the programme
had a Christian viewpoint and expressed your personal religious belief that
whenever you were unhappy with something in your life you found the best
person to help you was the one who made you. The man says that he left the
assessment feeling ‘humiliated.’